Societal Engagement

Bayer’s societal engagement focuses on people working in the areas of education and science and health and social innovationSocial innovationTo tackle the challenges of our time, we need to think and work in a way that goes beyond the boundaries of scientific disciplines and institutions – both in the science sector and social domain. The term defines the process by which new social practices emerge, prevail and become more widespread in various areas of society. who are committed to achieving a lasting improvement in living conditions. This is also true of an additional funding priority: sports and culture. In 2017, we invested a total of around €49 million (2016: €43 million) in charitable activities worldwide. Our involvement in professional soccer does not form part of our social sponsorship activities.

Bayer conducts its foundation work through two foundations linked to the company: the Bayer Science & Education Foundation for leading-edge research and talent promotion in the life sciences and medicine, and the Bayer Cares Foundation for social innovation and sustainable development.

An interdisciplinary functional unit is responsible for the strategic orientation and coordination of our societal engagement. Group-wide donation allocation and management policies form the basis for the foundation and donation activities. The Board of Management and internationally leading experts as independent judges are involved in major funding decisions. We work together with leading nongovernmental organizations, patient groups, foundations, scientific institutions, education partners and networks of experts around the world to implement our initiatives.

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Health and social innovation

Aspirin Social Innovation Award

The Bayer Cares Foundation again presented the Aspirin Social Innovation Award in 2017. This award with total prize money of €100,000 per year is conferred around the world for groundbreaking solutions in the areas of health and nutrition. The supported initiatives are working on new solutions in the areas of preventive medical treatment of malaria and breast and cervical cancer, efficient nutrition, and communication options for blind people and families with autistic children.

Strengthening volunteering worldwide

Under the auspices of its International Volunteering Program, the Bayer Cares Foundation supported 113 volunteering projects by employees in 44 countries in 2017. The total funding amounted to more than €400,000. The selected projects help improve living conditions in the immediate vicinity of the company’s sites.

Rapid assistance in the event of natural disasters

In 2017, Bayer again supported people experiencing acute hardship as a result of natural disasters with immediate aid and prevention projects. The total value of the donations of money, medicines and goods made by the company exceeded €1.5 million.

Access to Medicine

We have implemented various Access to MedicineAccess to Medicine (ATM)describes activities to promote general access to essential medicines and improve knowledge on health. activities to meet our global responsibility to society and enable people in developing countries and emerging markets to access our medical products.

Science and education

Groundbreaking achievements

The Bayer Science & Education Foundation honors pioneering achievements in basic medical research with the Hansen Family Award. In 2017, the foundation presented the €75,000 award to two scientists. Professor Jens Brüning of the Max Planck Institute for Metabolic Research in Cologne and Professor Matthias H. Tschöp from the Helmholtz Diabetes Center in Munich were honored for their groundbreaking research contributions in the areas of obesity and diabetes.

Dr. David Seiffge from the Stroke Research Group in the Neurology Department at Basel University Hospital was honored with the Bayer Thrombosis Research Award. The physician was presented with the award, which includes a monetary prize of €30,000, for his clinical work pertaining to the management of non-vitamin-K-dependent oral anticoagulants (NOAK) in acute stroke patients.

Getting young people excited about science

In the context of Bayer’s international talent promotion efforts, the Bayer Science & Education Foundation awarded 65 scholarships to students and apprentices with a total volume of some €417,000 in 2017. The funding mainly benefits international research projects. Overall, Bayer implemented individually tailored school support programs in more than 20 countries, working closely with universities, science museums and other educational organizations.

Under the auspices of its school support program, the Bayer Science & Education Foundation provided total funding of around €419,000 to 41 projects in the areas surrounding the company’s sites. In this way, the company facilitated innovative teaching concepts at schools and other educational facilities in 25 German cities, as well as education programs to facilitate the integration of refugee children in Berlin and at the E.U.’s central refugee admission camp on the Greek island of Samos.

At the four German Baylab student laboratories, more than 8,500 children and young people took advantage of the company’s scientific offerings in 2017 to supplement their school instruction or as a vacation program. The company has additional Baylabs in Mexico, Poland, the Netherlands, Romania, Bulgaria and, since 2017, the United Kingdom. The education program is supplemented by advanced training for teachers and mobile Baylab programs such as those in Argentina and South Africa.

Sports and culture

In 2017, Bayer extensively supported activities in the areas of recreational, disabled and competitive sports again. The Bayer sports clubs made a key contribution to the broad range of sporting activities around the German sites in North Rhine-Westphalia. The 23 clubs have a total of nearly 43,000 members. The larger clubs were also intensely involved as professional service providers for the company’s occupational health management program.

In 2017, Bayer Arts & Culture again promoted artistic diversityDiversitydesignates the variation within the workforce in terms of gender, origin, nationality, age, religion, sexual orientation and physical capability. through more than 120 music, dance, theater and art events. Bayer continued to expand the stARTacademy, which offers highly talented young artists comprehensive support – for example by bringing solo artists together with orchestras and providing financial assistance.